Somewhere Only We Know
by Cool And Creative Two
Summary: When a young viking and a spirited girl connect with letters from a magical mailbox, they begin a beautiful friendship, and it will soon be put to the test by certain events from both of their worlds. Inspired by "The Lake House". Please read, review, and recommend!
1. The Princess' Prologue

**_Chapter 1: The Princess' Prologue_**

_Once upon a time, a single drop of sunlight fell from the heavens, and from this drop of sunlight, grew a magic golden flower._

_It had the ability to heal the sick and injured._

_One day, a old woman named Mother Gothel discovered the Golden Flower._

_She decided to use its power to keep herself young and beautiful for hundreds of years._

_As those centuries passed, there grew a small and happy kingdom, which was ruled by a beloved King and Queen._

_The kingdom was surrounded by sparkling blue water, its gentle waves dappled by sunlit skies, and the island was rich, both in good fortune, and in an easy harmony among its people._

_Though the people of the kingdom had heard the legend of the Golden Flower, no one had ever seen it._

_It was the stuff of stories told around the fires on cold winter nights._

_They had never really needed the flower._

_The people of the kingdom had recently become joyful, as there was news that the Queen was going to have a child._

_But all too soon, the kingdom's happiness came to an abrupt end._

_Word spread the Queen was gravely ill._

_There seemed to be nothing that could help her._

_Or was there?_

_Perhaps the Golden Flower was more than merely an old legend._

_Willing to try anything to save her, the people launched a search throughout the kingdom and the surrounding lands._

_They combed the hills and fields, mountains and valleys._

_They even crossed the clear blue water to explore the stark and rocky terrain on the opposite shore._

_Mother Gothel, who had kept herself and the Golden Flower isolated from the people of kingdom, was singing softly to the flower, as she did every day, when she spotted some strangers in the distance._

_They were searching every square inch of the land._

_Mother Gothel began to panic._

_Quickly, she hid and watched as the strangers moved closer to the rocky ledge where the Golden Flower grew._

_"We found it! We found it!" The strangers shouted at last._

_Mother Gothel watch horrified, horrified, as a palace guard uprooted the flower and carried it off._

_In a panic, she followed the strangers as they brought the flower to the castle._

_She stayed hidden, hoping to come up with a scheme to get the Golden Flower back._

_But it was too late._

_The flower was made into a potion and fed to the ailing Queen._

_Its magic worked, and the Queen soon recovered!_

_The King and all the people in the land rejoiced._

_Soon afterward, the King and Queen stood on their royal balcony, holding the newborn Princess together._

_She was such a darling baby, with her mother's emerald-green eyes, and curly golden hair that gleamed in the sunlight, and her name was Rapunzel._

_The palace courtyard was filled with the cheers of the kingdom's people as they saw their princess for the very first time._

_Mother Gothel, who was watching from the shadows, did bit cheer._

_Without the magic of the Golden Flower, she was growing older by the day._

_Seething with anger, she waited._

_As the day faded into night, the King and Queen launched a single glowing lantern into the night sky to celebrate their princess's birth._

_All their love and hopes for the Princess's happiness were contained in the lantern._

_The crowd joyfully watched as the glowing lantern rose to the heavens._

_But the King and Queen's happiness was sort-lived._

_For later that night, as the kingdom slept, a vengeful Mother Gothel_

_crept into the royal nursery and approached the Princess's cradle._

_Swiftly, she thrust her hand toward the child, but she suddenly stopped._

_The lovely golden curls of the infant entranced Mother Gothel._

_Compelled to gently stroke the baby's hair, she quietly began to sing, as she had so many times with the flower._

_Most unexpectedly, the child's hair began to glow. Mother Gothel watched in shock, then with delight, as her withered old hand became young again._

_The healing power of the Golden Flower lived on in the golden hair of the little Princess!_

_Mother Gothel cut a piece of the Princess's hair and gazed at it as it lay in her hand._

_Now she could take it with her and use it anytime she liked._

_But that was not meant to be._

_Mother Gothel watched as the light hair in her hand turned dark brown._

_She looked at the back of the Princess's neck._

_There was now a short brown tuft where the golden hair had been cut._

_Mother Gothel was furious!_

_She realized that the magic only worked if she sang and stroked the hair on the Princess's head!_

_There was only one thing to do._

_She would have to steal the baby...and keep her hidden from the rest of the world forever._

_For many months, the people of the kingdom searched and searched, but they could never find their princess._

_No one knew that far away, hidden in a boxed-in valley, Mother Gothel was raising the child as her own._

_To prevent her from leaving, Mother Gothel kept the girl at the top of the tall tower they called home._

_The beautiful valley provided stunning views for the little girl._

_A waterfall fell from the crest of the steep surrounding cliffs, plunging to a sparkling, winding stream below._

_The meadows were filled with flowers and lush greenery._

_Often, rainbows rose from the water, glimmering and arching over the stone tower._

_During the day, Mother Gothel would frequently go outside the flower to gather herbs and vegetables._

_On other occasions, the little girl watched as Mother Gothel went to the edge of the valley and slipped into a dark hole at the base of a rocky cliff,_

_disappearing through a tunnel that led her beyond the places that the child could see._

_The tunnel oped to a forest outside of the valley._

_Mother Gothel made sure that when she came and went throught the tunnel, no one ever saw her._

_If anyone did see, they might find the tower, and the Princess!_

_Mother Gothel adored Rapunzel, and the child adored Mother Gothel, too._

_After all, she was only mother- and the only person! -whom Rapunzel knew or remembered._

_Mother Gothel was there to feed and bathe the infant._

_She watched Rapunzel take her first steps, and she sang lullabies to the little girl as she stroked and brushed her hair every day._

_Rapunzel never knew the true love of the parents._

_Nearly four years passed before Rapunzel asked Mother Gothel, "Why can't I go outside?"_

_Mother Gothel remained cautious in her response._

_She knew she had to make the little girl fearful, so she would never stray from the safety of the tower._

_"The outside world is a dangerous place, filled with horrible, selfish people." Mother Gothel replied._

_She did not want to lose Rapunzel. The child was a part of her now._

_She treasured Rapunzel as she would with a prized rose or a precious jewel._

_Mother Gothel lifted a section of Rapunzel's hair._

_Rapunzel reached back and touched the small tuft at the nape of her neck._

_It was the only part of her hair that was dark and short._

_"They wanted your gift for themselves," Mother Gothel said, lying to Rapunzel as she gazed at the hair that she herself had cut._

_"So they cut a piece of your hair." Mother Gothel said._

_"Yes, Mommy." Rapunzel answered, and shivered a little._

_The outside world must be a terribly dangerous place._

_But on the night of her fourth birthday, Rapunzel tiptoed over to the the tower window._

_There, in the night sky, she saw thousands of sparkling lights drifting up beyond the valley toward the stars._

_The same thing happened on the night of her fifth birthday, and also on her sixth and seventh birthdays._

_Rapunzel loved those floating lights, and she even grew to believe that somehow, they were meant for her._

_What Rapunzel didn't know was that each year, the King and Queen and all of the people in the kingdom released thousands of glowing lanterns as beacons for their lost princess._

_They hoped that one day, the lights would guide her home._

_Many years passed, and Rapunzel grew into a beautiful young woman, with sparkling green eyes and golden hair that was nearly seventy feet long._

_Seventy feet of hair that was used to make a swing so she could swoop from the rafters in the tower,_

_and that made brushings for beloved paintings, and despite her lonely life spent inside the top of the tower, nothing could destroy Rapunzel's true spirit._

_With her eighteenth birthday approaching, even though it was many weeks away, Rapunzel had decided that this birthday would be different._

_At least, she hoped so, but first, she had to gather enough courage to ask Mother Gothel for the biggest favor she could grant._

_Mother Gothel had always told Rapunzel that someday, when she was old enough, when she was ready, she would be allowed to go outside._

_Outside! Rapunzel could only imagine outside._

_A place she barely glimpsed from her window, a place filled with creatures and plants, and with sights, smells, and sounds she had never experienced!_

_Rapunzel nervously hoped that Mother Gothel would finally allow her to go out._

_She needed to find the source of those mysterious floating lights._

_What Rapunzel also noticed as she grew up, was a mailbox with a flag attached to it._

_The mailbox was not far from the tower._

_While Rapunzel doesn't really have anyone to write to, she wondered if someone from the outside world would receive a letter she wrote,_

_so when Mother Gothel does come to the tower, Rapunzel was definately going to ask her about that mailbox..._


	2. The Mysterious Mailbox

_**Chapter 2: The Mysterious Mailbox**_

Opening the tower's shutters, Rapunzel leaned out over the windowsill, breathing in the fresh morning air.

It seemed to smell better out there than inside the tower, and the air always felt cooler and fresher at the window.

From a potted strawberry plant next to her, a tiny green chameleon named Pascal came out to greet her.

Pascal was Rapunzel's only friend, and he looked up at her happily, blinking his big eyes.

He could turn almost any color, and now, sensing Rapunzel's mood, he turned a bright yellow.

Pascal knew, as always, exactly what was best for Rapunzel. She wanted to go outside!

Pascal skittered over to the windowsill and gestured for her to come out of the tower with her, but Rapunzel shook her head.

She couldn't go out unless she Mother Gothel's permission first. Pascal slumped a bit.

"Oh, come on, Pascal," she said cheerfully to the little chameleon, as she motioned him to come back inside the tower.

"It's not so bad in there."

She used her golden hair to pull a lever.

Thick, wooden shutters that covered the windows over her head at the tower's peak burst open.

The tower was now flooded with sunlight, glittering specks of dust filling the air.

Their day was about to begin, and it's a very big day because it was the day she would ask Mother Gothel about the mailbox near the tower!

The tower made a small living space.

It was tall, but narrow.

On the main level, there was a small kitchen, along with a living room that had a giant fireplace.

The window through which Mother Gothel entered and exited the tower was off to one side.

Mother Gothel slept in a bedroom on this cozy level of the tower.

Up a set of winding wooden stairs was a small loft where Rapunzel slept.

Here, she also had a box of paints, a guitar, and a little bed for Pascal.

Rapunzel kept herself busy every day, but today, Pascal felt her excitement as she rushed through her chores:

cleaning, sweeping, dusting the furniture, waxing the floors made of thick golden wood and shining stone, and washing her single, pale purple dress, then she sat down to play guitar.

She was self-taught, but the melodies that floated from the strings were beautiful.

Rapunzel had a few puzzles that she put together and took apart regularly.

When she started feeling a bit pent up, she often turned to her darts.

She had quite good aim and placed her targets in every nook and cranny to challenge herself with increasing levels of difficulty.

Someday, she might just create a dart that could fly across the valley and hit one of the far walls of the cliffs, but that day was a long way off.

In the meantime, Rapunzel also loved to read! She had exactly three books, all completely memorized.

One about culinary arts, which helped her with her cooking. One about geology, and the third was about botany.

Her favourite was the botany book.

It had the best colors and explained about things that grew outside!

Pascal tried to be patient as Rapunzel did the same things over and over again, but sometimes he couldn't help rolling his eyes.

It was boring, especially when she had to brush her hair for about three hours.

This morning, when she was finally done with all her chores, her guitar, her puzzles and books, and her hair, as usual, she had saved the best for last: painting!

It was absolutely her passion.

The tower's walls were covered with her art.

Tossing a length of golden hair over one of the rafters, she hoisted herself up toward her favourite mural.

Today, as she pulled back the red curtain that covered the painting, she looked at it differently.

The image was a replica of the view from her window: a scene showing the glowing lights rising into the night sky.

Pulling out her paints, she spotted a small blank space that she wanted to fill.

When she finished, she had added a small picture of herself ready to enter the forest beyond the tunnel, to see the world outside her little valley.

Suddenly, Rapunzel heard her mother's voice. "Rapunzel!" Mother Gothel called from outside the tower. "Let down your hair!"

Rapunzel gasped and took a deep breath, and turned to Pascal, who gave her a brave little smile.

"Okay," Rapunzel said to Pascal, trying to stay calm. "No big deal. I'm just going to do it. I'm just going to say, 'Mother? There's something I've been wanting to ask you!'"

She was beginning to feel her heart sinking. Maybe she wasn't ready to go outside.

Pascal took one look at Rapunzel and arched his little body, puffing out his chest to tell her to brave and strong.

"I know, Pascal," Rapunzel appreciating the encouragement.

"Come on, now," she said, motioning for him to hide. "Don't let her see you."

Mother Gothel had never approved of indoor pets.

Pascal nodded and camouflaged himself to look like the stone on the mantel.

Down below on the ground, Mother Gothel shouted "Rapunzel! I'm not getting any younger down here!"

Rapunzel hurried toward the window. "Coming, Mother!" Rapunzel shouted.

She placed a loop of her golden hair aound a pulley outside the window and lowered it down.

As soon as Mother Gothel set her foot in the loop of hair, Rapunzel began slowly pull her up to the tower window.

It was very hard work! "Hello, Mother! Welcome home!" Rapunzel said, nearly out of breath.

"Oh, Rapunzel! How do you manage to do that every single day, without failure? It looks absolutely exhausting, darling." Mother Gothel wondered.

"Oh, it's nothing," Rapunzel replied cheerfully.

"Then I don't know why it takes so long," Mother Gothel snapped, then suddenly laughed. Oh, darling, I'm just teasing."

Meanwhile, Rapunzel remained focused on her question. "Uh, so, Mother..." Rapunzel began, but Mother Gothel immediately interrupted her.

"Rapunzel, look in that mirror. Do you know what I see?" Mother Gothel asked, pulling Rapunzel into a half hug as they stood side by side in front of a mirror.

"I see a strong, confident, beautiful young lady." Rapunzel now had a smile on her face.

"Oh, look, you're here too!" Mother Gothel said,and started laughing, while Rapunzel's smile quickly vanished.

She realized Mother Gothel was talking about her own reflection. "I'm just teasing. Stop taking everything so seriously." Mother Gothel said.

Rapunzel took a breath and tried to speak to her mother again. "So...Mother?" Rapunzel began, nervously stumbling over her words.

"As I grew up, I noticed that there is a...uhh." Mother Gothel shook her head impatiently.

"Rapunzel, please stop with the mumbling. You know how I feel about the mumbling. Blah Blah Blah! It's very annoying." Mother Gothel soon smiled again.

"I'm just teasing. You're adorable. I love you so much, darling." She said, as she went over to a table to get an apple.

Rapunzel sighed, and looked down at the bottom of the mirror, and saw Pascal, who made a gesture for her to keep going.

Rapunzel nodded, turned around, and blurted out, asking, "Mother, what is that thing near the tower?"

Mother Gothel was stunned, while Rapunzel was too. "I did it! I finally asked!" Rapunzel thought to herself.

"What?" Mother Gothel said to Rapunzel.

"Well, as I grew up, I noticed that there was something not far from the tower." Rapunzel replied.

"Okay, so where is this 'thing' you're talking about?" Mother Gothel asked.

Rapunzel walked over to the window and Mother Gothel followed.

Rapunzel went up the ledge and wrapped her hair around the pulley, this time to make sure she didn't fall, and Mother Gothel went up with her.

"Now then, could you please show me where it is?" Mother Gothel asked, and Rapunzel immediately pointed to the mailbox, which was only a few centimeters from the tower.

"Oh that, dear? That's just a mailbox." Mother Gothel answered as she went back into the tower.

"Well, what does it do, Mother?" Rapunzel asked, as she went back inside too.

"First, you have to write a letter, and then, you leave it in the mailbox, and you raise the flag.

Once you have done all of that, then the letter will be sent to a person that's very far away." Mother Gothel replied.

"Wow, so does it work? Can we try it?" Rapunzel asked in excitement. "Oh, dear, I don't think we can." Mother Gothel said.

"Why not?" Rapunzel asked, now frowning. "We don't have anyone to write to." Mother Gothel answered.

"I think I have a reason we should write a letter." Rapunzel said. "Really, what for?" Mother Gothel asked.

Rapunzel suddenly went to her mural of the glowing lights, and revealed it to Mother Gothel. "We could ask about the floating lights." Rapunzel said.

"Oh, you mean the stars," Mother Gothel said, hoping Rapunzel was still young enough to be fooled.

Rapunzel shook her head, meaning she didn't agree.

"That's the thing," Rapunzel said excitedly, "I've charted stars, and they're always constant, but these? They appear every year on my birthday, Mother.

Only on my birthday, and I can't help but feel like, they're meant for me. My eighteenth birthday is coming in a few months,

and the truth is, the present I want most is to see those lights, and not just from my window. In person, and until then, I need to know what they are."

Mother Gothel tried to appear calm. "Go outside?" She said as she gathered her wits.

"Why, Rapunzel, you know why we stay up in this tower." Mother Gothel told Rapunzel.

"I know I'm safe up in this tower, but what if I'm around the tower? I'm sure I'll be just fine." Rapunzel said.

Mother Gothel began to describe terrible, frightening things: ruffians and thugs and men with pointy teeth, poison ivy and quicksand, cannibals and snakes, the plauge and large bugs.

Still, Rapunzel remained focused. "Mother, I'm sure none of those things are here around the tower. Don't you trust me?" Rapunzel asked.

"Of course, I trust you. I'm just worried that one day, you'll be taken by somebody, and they'll want your hair for themselves." Mother Gothel said.

"Mother, I believe that the outside world is not so dangerous, and they are so many good things out there, which is why I'll ask you this question. Can I please go outside?" Rapunzel asked.

Mother Gothel thought about it, and then shook her head. "I'm sorry, but you are not leaving this tower. Understood?" Mother Gothel asked.

Rapunzel opened her mouth, ready to argue, but decided not to. "Yes, Mother," Rapunzel replied obediently, slumping in sadness.

"Oh..." Mother Gothel changed her tone and swept Rapunzel into a warm hug. "I love you very much, dear." Mother Gothel said softly.

"I love you more," Rapunzel answered quietly, as she always did. "I love you most!" Mother Gothel whispered as she kissed Rapunzel atop her head and got ready to leave again.

Rapunzel had her hair around the pulley to bring her mother slowly on the ground, and looked up at the sky after. How could she doubt her mother's love?

She looked down and waved as Mother Gothel disappeared beyond the walls of the valley...into the mysterious world beyond.

Suddenly, Mother Gothel began to think about what Rapunzel said. "Hmm...maybe it wouldn't be that bad if Rapunzel went outside..."


	3. The Very First Letter

**_Chapter 3: The Very First Letter_**

When Mother Gothel had left, Rapunzel began to realize that it didn't matter what she said or did.

There was no hope that Mother Gothel would ever let her go outside.

Rapunzel would be trapped at the top of the tower for the rest of her life.

She turned around and looked longingly at her mural of lights, then at the mailbox on the ground near the tower.

Rapunzel needed to know about the floating lights, and she was sure if she wrote a letter and put into the mailbox, then she would finally get the answer she has always wanted.

Still, Rapunzel knew that would never happen, and she went back up to her room to read the three books she only had...again.

Rapunzel had just finished reading the book about geology when a voice suddenly came from outside the tower.

"Rapunzel! Let down your hair!" It was Mother Gothel. "Coming, Mother!" Rapunzel shouted.

She immediately went to the tower window and wrapped her hair around the pulley.

"I have a big surprise!" Mother Gothel shouted cheerfully. "Oh. That's great," Rapunzel said, trying to be cheerful as well.

As she started pulling her mother up the side of the tower, she began to think what it might be.

Her mother bringing back parsnips and saying she was going to make hazelnut soup, which was her favourite, for dinner.

Right when Mother Gothel was up standing on the windowsill, Rapunzel immediately asked a question: "So what is the big surprise?"

Mother Gothel stepped into the tower and smiled. "Rapunzel, I thought about what you said earlier, and I decided that...you can go outside."

Just a few seconds after Mother Gothel said that, Rapunzel rushed over and gave her the biggest hug.

"Thank you, Mother! This is something that I've wanted so much." Rapunzel said cheerfully.

She was about to walk toward the window, when Mother Gothel stopped her.

"Wait, Rapunzel. There are a few rules you must always remember." Mother Gothel said.

"Okay, so what are the rules, Mother?" Rapunzel asked.

"First, you can't go out beyond the tunnel. If you get dirty, you have to clean up yourself, and finally, you cannot put anything in the mailbox. Do you understand?" Mother Gothel asked.

Rapunzel nodded. "Yes, Mother, but one more thing. How am I supposed to get back inside the tower?"

"If you bring me down outside, and if you come down too, the I'll show you." Mother Gothel said.

Five seconds later, Rapunzel immediately went to the tower window and wrapped her hair around the pulley and brought her mother to the ground.

Slowly, she climbed down the tower for the very first time. Using her hair like a rope, as she had done so many times for Mother Gothel, but never for herself, she rappelled toward the ground.

At the bottom of the tower, her toes touched the soft grass, then she was standing on the ground for the first time in her life!

The grass tickled her toes. It was cool, and it felt wonderful. The sky looked enormous, and the sunlight shimmered through the trees.

Just as Rapunzel was about to start dancing in the sunlight, she heard her mother's voice.

"Rapunzel! Could you please come over here?" Mother Gothel asked.

"Yes, Mother," Rapunzel replied, and went to the back of the tower, where Mother Gothel was.

Long ago, Mother Gothel had used this entrance, but once Rapunzel's hair grew long enough for her to use it as a way of entering and exiting the tower, she had closed off the door, with bricks and mortar.

Now, she was ripping at the branches that had grown over the door and uncovered the hidden entrance.

Next, Mother Gothel began prying away the bricks with her bare hands, until she could open the door behind the wall she had built.

"Please follow me, Rapunzel." Mother Gothel said. Rapunzel nodded, and stayed behind her mother, as they climbed a secret staircase.

Mother Gothel pushed through a trapdoor hidden in the floor, and they were both back in the tower.

"This will be how you get back inside the tower. Make sure to remember, okay?" Mother Gothel asked.

Rapunzel nodded. "Don't worry. I'll always remember." Rapunzel promised.

"Good. Now then, I'm going to gather some parsnips so I can make your favourite for dinner. Hazelnut soup!" Mother Gothel said.

"I can't wait!" Rapunzel said happily, before giving Mother Gothel a hug. "I love you very much, dear." Mother Gothel said softly.

"I love you more." Rapunzel said brightly. "I love you most" Mother Gothel said, as she kissed Rapunzel on top of her head.

Mother Gothel got a basket and her cloak, and walked down the staircase to the ground.

Rapunzel watched from her tower window until Mother Gothel disappeared into the forest.

She immediately went up to her room, and to her desk, where she got out her stationary.

Pascal suddenly appeared and was now on Rapunzel's shoulder.

I've got great news, Pascal! Mother said I could go outside!" Rapunzel said cheefully.

Pascal happily squeaked, when he knew Rapunzel got something she had wanted for so long.

"What's more is I'm going to write a letter too, and put it into that mailbox, so I can finally know about the floating lights.

Should I write my name?" Rapunzel asked.

Pascal shook his head, since he was sure the outside world might still be dangerous.

"Good idea. I'll just sign it 'Someone who loves to dream'. How does that sound?" Rapunzel asked.

Pascal nodded, which led to Rapunzel smiling. "I'll make it out to 'Person from the outside world'.

After a few minutes of writing, Rapunzel had finally finished her letter.

Pascal hung on for dear life, as Rapunzel raced down the stairs to the floor of the tower, and then down the secret staircase that led outside the tower, and all the way to the mailbox.

"I know Mother wouldn't be happy about this, if she ever found out, but the floating lights are so important to me, I have to know what they are." Rapunzel thought to herself.

She put the letter into the mailbox and raised the flag down, and spent the rest of her time outside.


	4. The Message Received

_**Chapter 4: The Message Received**_

As Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III walked to the cove, he suddenly noticed that the Night Fury he had befriended just a day earlier, could not be seen anywhere.

Hiccup had named him 'Toothless' for his retracted teeth.

He was sure the dragon couldn't have flown out of the cove, because one of its tail fins was completely gone, and that's why Hiccup had spent his time in the

blacksmith shop last night, making a brand new tail fin, so that Toothless could be able to fly into the sky again.

He also brought an enormous woven basket of fish, as Hiccup was positive Toothless would be very hungry.

Unfortunately, he couldn't see the black dragon, and so he called out the name he came up with yesterday.

"Toothless! Where are you?" Hiccup shouted, hoping for a sound. Luckily, he heard the dragon growl loudly behind a large rock.

When Hiccup found Toothless, the dragon was looking at something strange, a thing Hiccup didn't even know what it was supposed to be.

It seemed to be a long wooden pole, with a box attached at the top. The sides were rectangle-shaped, while the top was triangle-shaped.

He also noticed that it had some sort of door, and so, very slowly, Hiccup decided to open it to see what the boh had,

as he pulled the little knob on the door, and took a peek inside to see if anything was there.

Suprisingly there was a small folded white sheet of paper, and when Hiccup open unfolded it, he suddenly realized what it was.

It was a letter! Hiccup immediately got started to reading it.

_Dear Person From The Outside World,_

_Every year on my birthday, I have seen many lights float up into the sky, and I can't help but feel like they're meant for me,_

_and so, it's important I have to know what they are, because you should know that it's been my one and only dream to see these floating lights up close and in person._

_When you have answer, please make sure to write back._

_Once you put the letter in the mailbox, you raise the flag, and when you receive a letter, you lower the flag._

_Thank you so much, and I can't wait._

_Sincerely, Someone Who Loves To Dream._

After reading, Hiccup immediately lowered the mailbox, and Hiccup thought about what this someone was talking about.

"Floating lights?" Hiccup wondered, and then forgot about it.

"Oh, Toothless," Hiccup cooed, walking toward the dragon with the basket on his back.

Hiccup grunted as he heaved the basket of fish in front of the Night Fury. "I brought you some breakfast, I hope you're hungry...," Hiccup told the dragon.

Toothless looked very eager to eat his breakfast, as Hiccup kicked the basket over and the fish spilled all over the ground.

Toothless licked his lips and stuck his nose in the pile of fish. "Okay, that's disgusting," Hiccup said as he made his way behind Toothless.

"We've got salmon, some Icelandic cod, and a whole smoked eel!" Hiccup said, naming the fish that Toothless was about to dig in to.

At the word 'eel', however, Toothless suddenly growled and drew back.

"Don't like eel?" Hiccup said, holding up the slimy black and yellow striped fish. Toothless let out a shriek of disgust.

"Okay!" Hiccup said, tossing the eel away. "Yeah, I'm not a fan either…" With the eel gone, Toothless began snapping down on the fish.

"Yes, that's it...don't mind me," Hiccup said softly as he walked behind the dragon toward his injured tail.

"I'll just be back here…minding my own business…" Hiccup said as he set the artificial fin down beside the empty spot where the left fin should have been and moved the fin against the tail.

At that moment, Toothless moved his tail to the side. Hiccup quickly looked at him, but he didn't seem to notice what Hiccup was doing.

Hiccup moved the fin toward his tail again, but again he moved it away.

"Toothless, this won't work unless you stay still!" Hiccup said in frustration, sitting down on his tail and strapping the fin to his tail.

Behind Hiccup, Toothless stuck his head in the basket, nosing around to see if there were any missed fish. His thrashing made it quite difficult to attach the fin, but Hiccup eventually did it.

Toothless suddenly stopped moving, and the basket dropped from his face to reveal a surprised expression. He wiggled his tail, felt the fin, and dropped his wings in shock.

The human had made him a new fin? To fly with?"There!" Hiccup said happily, staring at his handiwork.

Hiccup reached down and unfurled the fin, not noticing Toothless's wings unfurling behind him getting ready for takeoff. "That's not too bad. It works," Hiccup said with satisfaction.

At that moment, Toothless shoved off and shot into the air. Hiccup was still on his tail, which meant he went with him. Hiccup screamed as the ground shot away from him and they went higher.

Hiccup wrapped his legs around the dragon's tail for dear life. Through his fear, Hiccup managed to notice that the fin was flapping around uselessly in the air.

That meant it wasn't working, and Toothless suddenly buckled and plunged toward the ground without the fin helping him.

As the ground approached and both of them screamed, Hiccup shot out a hand and yanked the fin out to the side.

They swerved up inches from the ground and shot up into the sky in a controlled swoop. "Ohmygo—oh, it's—it's working!" Hiccup

gasped, and he angled the fin to the side and Toothless flew to the left. He was flying! They were flying!

"Yes! I did it!" Hiccup cheered, and Toothless suddenly realized Hiccup was hanging onto his tail and flicked him off.

Hiccup hit the lake below and plunged deep below the surface. Without Hiccup to extend the fin, Toothless also plummeted into the lake.

Hiccup swam to the surface, pumped his fists in the air, and cheered. "YEAH!"

Even though his clothes were clinging to his skin, and his wet hair was hanging into his eyes, Hiccup was in a very good, as the fin he made for Toothless,

and he planned to work on a few more things that would help Toothless to get back into the sky and soar through the clouds again.

As Hiccup climbed to the top of the cove, he turned around and looked back at the mailbox.

He went into his vest, and took out the letter he pulled out from the mailbox, and looked at it.

"Hmm...I believe who ever wrote this letter deserves to have their answer." Hiccup announced.


	5. The Answers Returned

_**Chapter 5: The Answers Returned**_

After dragon training, over the past few hours, Hiccup thought about the letter he read earlier, and decided he was going to write back.

He was now inside the blacksmith's shop as he looked at the letter, and then at the questions, and became very frustrated.

Hiccup believed he should take some off and go out to watch the stars. He thought the best view would be on the cliff by the dock.

When Hiccup finally got there, he laid down softly on the grass. It always made him feel calm and comfortable and relaxed when he was here.

Back when Hiccup was a baby, his mother, Vahallarama, would bring him to this area, and she would hold him, while talking about the stars and what they would look like.

Hiccup missed those moments, and especially, his mother. Suddenly, Hiccup sat up, and looked at the sky very carefully.

"Floating lights. These must be what that 'someone' is talking about!" Hiccup said excitedly.

He immediately ran back to the forge, where the letter was, and got out a sheet of paper.

Hiccup looked at the questions on the letter again, and he began writing.

After a few minutes, he was all done and started to head toward the forest.

When he reached the cove, he carefully climbed down, and went to the strange box.

There, he found Toothless curled up into a half circle, with his head on the ground, and his eyes closed.

Hiccup slowly walked by the dragon so he didn't wake him up, and luckily, Toothless didn't move.

He opened up the door of the box, and put his letter inside, and finally, lowered the flag.

Soon, he turned around and looked at the dragon, but since it was so dark, Hiccup couldn't really see Toothless.

Hiccup immediately decided to stay the night at the clearing, thinking it wouldn't be all that bed.

Quietly, he walked over and slowly laying his back against Toothless' belly.

"I hope this someone is happy with the answers I wrote down." Hiccup thought before falling asleep.


	6. The Unsatisfying Surprise

_**Chapter 6: The Unsatisfying Surprise**_

When Rapunzel woke up, she immediately got busy doing her chores, and then did all of her hobbies.

She couldn't wait to read the letter that would tell her all about the floating lights, so she was happy Mother Gothel left to get some herbs and vegetables,

and Rapunzel went down the secret staircase and outside, to the mailbox.

The flag was standing up, so she knew there was a letter inside.

Rapunzel quickly opened the mailbox, and she couldn't contain her excitement as she was now holding a white sheet with words written on it.

After she lowered the flag, Rapunzel quickly ran back up the staircase to the tower.

"Pascal! I got it! I got a letter back!" She called pleasantly.

The chameleon suddenly came out from a big vase and followed Rapunzel as she went upstairs to her bedroom.

Rapunzel sat down at her chair in front of her vanity mirror and began to read the letter as Pascal climbed up to her shoulder.

_Dear Someone Who Loves To Dream,_

_I happen to know about the floating lights you wrote about._

_Those lights are actually the stars._

_I'm not sure people send them into the sky, or why there's more of them every year._

_I believe the stars are born and somehow, they stay up there._

_I don't really know what they mean, so I hope you're happy with the answers for your questions._

_Sincerely, Person From The Outside World_

_P.S: Maybe it would be better if we used our real names, because it was nice writing to you_.

Rapunzel was not so pleased after reading the letter.

These were not the answers she expected, what she hoped for.

Now Rapunzel was sure this person didn't know what the floating lights were, so she decided to write another letter, but this time, she really wanted to know who wrote back.

Was this person a ruffian or a thug Mother Gothel had warned her about?

Either way, Rapunzel was determined to find out, as she brought out a sheet of paper and a fountain pen.

She wouldn't be afraid, as she would write down her name in this letter.


	7. The Misunderstanding

_**Chapter 7: The Misunderstanding**_

As soon as Hiccup's latest exam of dragon training was over, in which he succeeded by pushing a Hideous Zippleback into it's cage while holding a smoked eel, since he learned that dragons had a distaste for eel yesterday, he quickly headed for the cove, but not before going to the blacksmith shop to design a brand new saddle for Toothless.

Hiccup had spent a good remainder of the day working on it in the forge by cutting leather and using a hammer to make holes so Hiccup could stitch the straps together, because if he was going to ride that dragon, then he couldn't cling to the tail the whole time.

When Hiccup finally reached the cove while holding the saddle in his arms, he decided to check in the mailbox and see if there was another new letter from the "Someone Who Loves To Dream".

"Hey, bud. I have a big surprise for you, but first, I'm just gonna look in that strange box because I wanna know if somebody wrote back to me." Hiccup said, as he walked over to the mailbox.

Toothless gave his reply to Hiccup by giving a relaxed look and making a purring sound like a cat, while he stayed laying down on the grass, and kept his eyes toward Hiccup.

The teenager opened up the mailbox and Hiccup could see a single white sheet of paper, which gave off a sudden feeling of happiness and excitement deep inside his stomach.

Hiccup used his left hand to pull the letter out from the mailbox and used his right hand to close it before he unfolded the sheet and he soon got started on reading the letter.

_Dear Person From The Outside World,_

_I hate to be mean or anything, but I'm not really happy with your answers._

_I'm sure that there's been a misunderstanding about the floating lights I wrote about._

_They only appear on one specific day, and that happens to be on the night of my birthday._

_Stars are big, dense balls of gas and floating lights are… well, floating lights!_

_Even though I was disappointed at first, I was still glad someone could write back to me._

_I thought about what you wrote in your letter, and I agree that we should use our real names._

_I'm a girl whose name is Rapunzel, and in a few months, I'll be turning eighteen years old._

_I live with my mother, who's kept me safe and sound in a tower, and I love her very much._

_I have a best friend named Pascal, who's __a green chameleon, and he can be able to change into many different colors._

_Pascal and I have been doing some brainstorming. _

_He thinks that the floating lights could be fireflies, which may make __some_ sense…but how would fireflies know the exact day of my birthday? 

_P__lus, my lights seem much bigger and more far away than just fireflies in the forest. _

_I don't really have any guesses, to be honest. _

_The lights are just so… mysterious but __magical_.

_There's a lot of hobbies that I love to do, but the one that has always been my absolute favourite is painting._

_I could actually go on and on about myself, but I think it's really important if I get to know a lot more about you._

_Whenever __you have any free time, please feel free to write about who you are in your next letter._

_Sincerely, Rapunzel_

After he was finished with reading the letter, there was so many questions running through Hiccup's mind.

Was Rapunzel beautiful, and if the girl actually was, could she possibly even be more pretty than Astrid?

Did Rapunzel live somewhere on the Isle of Berk, just like him, or was her home on a different island far away?

Was Rapunzel a true and bright artist when it came to painting, or were her skills completely awful and bland?

What if Pascal was a dragon, and if that was true, did Rapunzel have to be careful when she began a friendship with him?

Hiccup decided to stop contstantly thinking of any more ideas about Rapunzel in his head or else, he would probably cause a headache for himself.

He put the letter in one of his vest pockets, and the saddle behind his back, hoping to make it a big surprise for Toothless, even though the dragon may have already seen it.

"I made something special for you, bud." Hiccup said, before holding the saddle up high. "Surprise! I hope you'll like it."

Toothless took just one look at the saddle, then bolted away while sticking his tongue out at Hiccup.

"Toothless wait!" Hiccup shouted holding the saddle over his head while running, "I just need to make sure it fits!"

Hiccup tried everything. He even tried sneaking up to the dragon but to no success.

Finally Toothless tried flying away but he ended up crashing headfirst into the canyon walls, and landed on the ground not moving.

"Toothless!" Hiccup shouted, while running over to him, "Toothless, are you okay?"

Luckily, he was still breathing, and that was a relief, since Toothless was just knocked out.

Wait…maybe…Hiccup had a chance now, and he should take it as soon as possible.

While Toothless was unconscious, Hiccup had managed to get the saddle on him.

Though rolling the dragon over with his minimal strength was rather hard, Hiccup eventually got the saddle on securely.

Just when Hiccup was finished, along with tying a rope to the tail fin, Toothless started to blink his eyes and wake up.

Toothless opened his large green eyes, rolled over onto his belly and gave his head a good shake.

"Oh good…you were out for a few minutes, but it looks like you're okay now." Hiccup said in relief.

Toothless blinked at the human, snorted slightly and noticed the saddle on his back, before giving an exasperated look and taking off yet again.

At first, Hiccup wanted to chase after Toothless so he could get on his back and find a handhold on the saddle, but he decided that since he already got the saddle on Toothless, enough work had been done for today.

Hiccup starting running towards Toothless, who turned and dashed away from Hiccup, while teasingly wagging his tail in front of the human.

Hiccup giggled and kept running, when suddenly Toothless had appeared right in front of him, which caused both of them to run into each other.

The two friends ended up rolling around on the grass for a short time with Hiccup panting until he was completely out of breath.

For several hours until early evening settled in, they just stayed there in the cove lying down on their backs, while watching the stars pass overhead.

"Okay. I think it's time for me to head back home now." Hiccup said as he started to get up from the grass and Toothless did the same.

"I'll see you tomorrow, bud. I promise." Hiccup said as he turned to leave and Toothless followed him over to the canyon entrance.

Toothless kept his eyes focused on Hiccup as he climbed up the stone ledges back to the entrance, while making sure to be extra careful of himself so that he wouldn't slip and fall.

During his walk through the forest, Hiccup kept his mind on all kinds of things that he could write about in his next letter to Rapunzel.

After taking some short time on whether he should go back to his childhood, or start with his teenage years, Hiccup decided to write from the fateful night that he shot down Toothless.

Since it was already dark outside, Hiccup thought that it would be best for him to get some much needed sleep first, and then he'll immediately get working on the letter in the morning.

Suddenly, Hiccup's stomach began to growl and grumble, which caused him to think that meant he was pretty hungry, especially after all of that running he did with Toothless back in the cove.

Hiccup was absolutely certain that nobody, or at least, not much people would be in the Great Hall at this time of night.

He was hoping that for once, although Hiccup did enjoy that the kids were giving him attention instead of ignoring him, and the adults weren't noticing him as an annoying nuisance, he wouldn't be bombarded with any questions.

Unfortunately, his prayers to the Gods weren't exactly answered when Hiccup finally arrived at the large double doors of the Great Hall and opened them up just a little bit.

Although Hiccup wasn't easily spotted himself, he had been able to see Fishlegs, Snotlout, and the Thorston twins, along with a few townspeople were inside, which meant that they were probably waiting for him to come in at any moment now.

Hiccup let out a deep sigh, turning around to walk down the stairs. He'll might just have to wait until the next morning so that he would get something to eat.

When Hiccup reached his house, he went upstairs to his room, and his first thought was to get into his bed, but Hiccup just couldn't stop thinking about Rapunzel and her letter.

He suddenly remembered that he had spent the past few hours during last night to make the riding saddle for Toothless, and there were many other nights in the past for which he had stayed up at the blacksmith shop working on not just to make drawings of new inventions, but to create them as well.

Hiccup looked for a candle with a good amount of embedded wick to give enough light, and got out a few sheets of paper, as well as a pen.

This was going to be a pretty long letter, for which Hiccup was going to be telling about many things as possible in his life, and he was hoping that Rapunzel would be most certainly be satisfied with it.


	8. The Young Boy's Story

_**Chapter 8: The Young Boy's Story**_

Rapunzel was still feeling so cheery and gleeful with knowing that she finally had been given the opportunity by Mother Gothel to go outside and experience the outdoors.

After doing her chores, she did her absolute best to keep herself busy as much as possible by enjoying brand new hobbies that she could do outside of the tower.

Watching many beautiful butterflies flutter in the sky, rolling around in the bright green grass, and getting to not just feel it, but also be able to smell what it was like.

Rapunzel loved being outside, and she was even starting to get a slight tan from the sunshine, now that she wasn't inside her tower all the time.

There was always something else that Rapunzel had loved to do outside from now on during that day, and it didn't involve nature or even the sun for that matter.

That certain hobby happened to be waiting for a new letter to come from the "Person From The Outside World" in the mailbox that was near to her tower.

Whether it was a boy or girl, they were still known to Rapunzel as a mysterious stranger ever since she had first made written contact to them.

Mother Gothel had recently left the tower to go on another daily search into the forest to get more herbs and vegetables so that they would have more healthy meals cooked from fresh food.

Rapunzel was now laying down on her back while relaxing on the soft grass, breathing in the air, and hearing the sweet sounds of nature, while Pascal was doing the same, when suddenly, both of them heard a strange noise.

Both of them instantly got up and were standing on the ground, and they started looking around for a while until Rapunzel had soon found something different with the mailbox.

The red flag attached to the mailbox was standing up, so that definately meant there was a brand new letter for Rapunzel to read, which caused her to jump and shout in excitement before happily running over to the mailbox.

Rapunzel took a few deep breaths to calm herself down first before opening the small door and taking a look inside, to see there was actually more than just one sheet of paper.

Before reaching inside to get the new letter inside the mailbox, Rapunzel looked around to find out which specific place Pascal was on the grass, and she carefully picked him up and placed the chameleon on her left shoulder.

"Pascal, look! We got another letter today! Whoever this person is, I'm really hoping that they've agreed with my idea and decided to tell us a lot more about themselves this time. Let's get back up to the tower and read it now!" Rapunzel said.

Pascal soon held onto Rapunzel for dear life just as his best friend closed the door of the mailbox, and lowered the flag before she raced through the grass, climbed up the secret staircase into the tower, and up another staircase to her room, and took a seat in front of her vanity mirror.

_Dear Rapunzel,_

_I thought about what you said in your letter for a while, and I decided that you were absolutely right._

_There's really no point in writing to each other anymore if we can't be honest about who we really are._

_I just hope that you have a lot of time to read this letter, because it sure took a long time last night for me to write this._

_My name is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, and I'm fifteen years old, which is only just two years younger than you._

_I live with a Viking tribe called the Hairy Hooligans on the Isle of Berk, where my father is the chief, and his name is Stoick the Vast._

_Ever since I was just two years old, I've been working as an apprentice (assistant) for my dad's friend, Gobber the Belch._

_Over the years, he's taught me everything that I needed to know about blacksmithing, since he's very skilled with it,_

_during any time when he has to quickly make repairs on weapons and provide them for the people who need them most in battle._

_I like to draw very much, and that's why I frequently keep a sketch pad with me everywhere I go, drawing the things I find interesting._

_Over the course of 7 generations, (300 years) Berk has been continuously raided by dragons of all different species, prompting a war between them and our tribe. _

_Whenever the dragons do come to our village, they always manage to both steal our livestock and burn our homes every time._

_Like every other young Viking on Berk, I'm expected to fight and kill a dragon in order to be considered a true Viking. _

_However, I'm very small and skinny for a Viking my age, and I can hardly lift and use traditional Viking weapons._

_ I also has a tendency to cause accidents, which is my dad tries so hard to keep me indoors as often as possible._

_That didn't exactly stay that way, when especially during one particular attack on the village while I was working in the blacksmith shop._

_I decided that I was going to finally prove myself as a Viking and capture a dragon using my own methods rather than standard Viking brutality. _

_Using a bola shot from a cannon I built himself and called "The Mangler", I was overjoyed when it caught a dragon in mid-air, thinking that was the rare and dangerous Night Fury. _

_However, no one else in the village believed me, usually because no one had ever even seen a Night Fury, yet alone brought one down._

_Despite being told to go home, I disobeyed my dad and headed out to the forest at Raven's Point to bring back the dragon's heart as proof to my dad._

_I searched for some time but couldn't seem to find where the dragon went down. _

_Luckily, I managed to find a broken tree and churned up ground, which lead me to the downed dragon which was tied up in the bola shot of my invention._

_I attempted to cut out the dragon's heart with his knife, but when I noticed how afraid the dragon from looking at his eyes, I couldn't bring himself to kill the dragon. _

_After cutting him free from the ropes, the Night Fury pounced on me and gave an angry roar before disappearing into the forest, and I soon fainted from the encounter._

_When I got back home, my dad told me that to enlist me into Dragon Training hoping it will toughen me up before he left that night to lead an expedition to find the Dragon's Nest._

_On the first day of Dragon Training, I was nearly killed by a dragon after a rather sudden start to the lesson from Gobber, prompting the other students to make fun of me._

_Gobber stated that I was lucky because a dragon "always goes in for the kill", so then I went back to where I found the Night Fury, wondering why he didn't do the same to me._

_Following the path the dragon flew off to, I noticed that half of the Night Fury's tail fin was torn off in it's crash and it couldn't exit the small cove which it's become trapped in._

_While I was attempting to finally record some actual information about Night Furies, I accidentally dropped my pencil in the cove and alerted the dragon to my presence. _

_To my amazement, all the Night Fury did was just stare me down and it didn't make any effort to fly up to where I was and attack, which left me very curious about the dragon._

_After barely surviving a Deadly Nadder and getting yelled at by Astrid in Dragon Training the next day, I headed to the cove, as I brought a fish with me, since I thought that he would be hungry._

_ Once I threw away my knife, the Night Fury looked impressed and he cautiously took my offering of fish by using its retractable teeth._

_He lowered his large black head and advanced on me, while I staggered backwards, lost my balance, fell and crawled away until I was up against one of the large boulders in the canyon._

_The Night Fury stared at me for only a few seconds before it pulled back a little and then started making a strange gagging sound._

_The dragon slightly rolled back its' eyes and gagged once again until it opened his mouth and half of the fish that I gave him slid down his tongue and right into my lap._

_He rose up onto his hind legs, and sat back on his back legs, elbows resting on his knees, watching me just like a human._

_I sat upright against the boulder still holding the fish tail in my hands, while I was still not sure what to do with it, and I looked up to stare at the Night Fury, who was staring right back at me with large expectant eyes, and an awkward silence followed before the dragon glanced down at the fish in my hands, and then back at me._

_To stay on good terms with the Night Fury, I ate part of the fish with some disgust and I was surprised to see the dragon try to imitate the smile that I gave to prove that I enjoyed eating the fish._

_However, when the dragon noticed that I was trying to touch him, the Night Fury's smile disappeared, and it flew off to the other side of the cove, and I followed him, since he wasn't that far away from me._

_While he wasn't looking, I took another chance to go for the tip of his tail, and I was about to touch him, when he swung his tail up and he stared at me, looking really annoyed, and that's why I quickly turned and walked away, trying to make it look like I had never wanted to touch his tail in the first place._

_I walked back to the rock that I had been pinned against only two minutes before and sat down on it, using a thin stick to sketch on the ground in front of me._

_I looked up from the ground to see Toothless leap up to an overhanging tree root, as he grasped the root with his feet and looped his tail over and folded his wings around his body._

_It looked like I was going to have to wait for Toothless come to me. I didn't care how long I had to wait. Even if I had stayed there all night, nobody would come wondering where I wandered off to._

_I had just gotten the head of a Night Fury drawn when I felt something approach from behind me and I knew the dragon was watching._

_The dragon followed the movement of the stick with his eyes, occasionally letting out a curious whine. _

_He watched me for about five seconds and then disappeared from behind me, and I figured he'd just gotten bored. _

_After all, drawing was one of those things that was only fun if you were doing it yourself._

_A second later I heard the noise of a small tree being uprooted, and I had to turn around._

_The dragon danced up in front of me a second later, holding the tree in his mouth and using it to create swirls and circles on the ground. _

_He passed by me again and the branches of his sapling whacked me on the back of my head. _

_The Night Fury continued to twirl around the dirt with the stick for a few minutes, and then he stopped, looked at me proudly, before he __stepped back to admire his drawing, while I was right in the middle of the web of criss-crossed lines._

_I started walking away, wondering if I should come back but then he growled. _

_One look at the ground, I was stepping on a line. _

_I lifted my leg and he went back to purring. _

_Glancing at him, I placed my leg down and pulled it back. __Same reaction._

_I stepped on it again, and he looked ready to attack me. _

_Once I lifted my leg, I made sure that I stepped over the line. _

_I looked back at the dragon, seeing him looking at me and not trying to attack made me continue, stepping over lines._

_Over the lines I stepped, making sure I went over each and every one. My arms helped me keep balance and I realized what I was doing._

_It felt like I was dancing, I was free and light as air, as nothing in the world could restrain me…_

_I stepped into the last empty space and felt warm breath on the back of my neck, which had me turn around and gasp. _

_The Night Fury was standing right behind me, and he looked impressed that I navigated through the drawing without stepping on the lines._

_Again, on impulse, I slowly reached my hand out to the dragon, but he growled slightly looking uncertain. _

_I drew my hand back. I had to show Toothless I meant him no harm, and so I closed my eyes and turned my head away and held my hand out to Toothless one more._

_I didn't care if he bit my whole arm off, __I trusted this dragon, and __I just wanted him to know that._

_I won't hurt you...I thought willing Toothless to understand._

_Something warm and soft touched my palm, and the warmth ran right down my arm and I gasped opening my eyes while I turned to look…_

_My hand was resting against the Night Fury's nose, and the dragon opened his eyes and we looked at each other straight in the eyes. _

_It was only for an instant, but it felt like we already understood everything about each other. _

_The Night Fury snorted, drew back, and ran over to the other side of the pond; leaving me standing where I was wondering if it had all really happened, or if I was dreaming._

_After a few seconds, I started to leave, retrieving my pencil along the way, and just before leaving through the opening where my shield was wedged into I turned around to see the Night Fury watching me._

_IWhile we were looking at each other immediately thought of a name: __Toothless._

_I know, why name a dragon "Toothless" when he actually has teeth? Seeing him without his teeth just stuck in my head._

_It was almost dark by the time I got back to my house, where I managed to stash the shield in my house before anyone noticed me, and I was about to go upstairs when Gobber knocked at the door, and I ran down to answer._

_He told me that him and the rest of the Dragon Training class were headed to one of the watch towers for dinner._

_I actually __didn't_ want to but Gobber dragged me along anyway, and he was probably going to just tell us the story about how he lost his leg and hand.

_It was the first time for the rest of the class hearing the story; I on the other hand had heard it several times before and it always changed slightly with every telling. I only listened with half an ear, still thinking about Toothless._

_While everyone else was talking, I was still lost in thought. __Toothless couldn't fly…and it was all __my_ fault.

_ I just stared at my fish and then I remembered that Toothless couldn't even get a decent meal from the fish in the pond, and my stomach tightened into a big guilty knot._

_It wasn't until Gobber had something that got me to leave the watch tower. "It's the tails and the wings you want, if it can't fly, it can't get away. A downed dragon is a dragon."_

_I went back to the blacksmith shop to get working throughout the night on a new tail for Toothless._

_I spent my time furiously making rods, disassembling broken weapons, creating moveable joints, and cutting leather, before I finished early in the morning, and it was early enough to test my new invention._

_So basically, that's all of what has happened in my life before I saw the mailbox in the cove, and started writing letters back to you._

_If you have any questions from anything that I told you, please feel free to put them in your next letter before sending it._

_Sincerely,_

_Hiccup_

As soon as Rapunzel was finished with reading the incredibly long letter, she felt very happy and relieved to know not only the person whom she's been making written contact with, but also of the many events that took place in his life before he began to write to her.

She quickly found a blank sheet of paper for herself and got herself thinking of the questions that she wanted to write down, while going through the letter just one more time.


	9. The Young Girl's Questions

**_Chapter 9: The Young Girl's Questions_**

Even though Hiccup couldn't seem to get Rapunzel out of his mind, he was at least able to concentrate and finish the Dragon Training exam in the kill ring, where he had tamed a Gronckle by rubbing some garlic grass against its' nose into submission.

Once the exam was over, Hiccup found a basket and once again, filled it with Toothless' favourite fish, and put on the riding vest and grabbed the tools and supplies he left in his room at his house before making his way through the forest until he was at the entrance for the cove.

The hours that he spent with Toothless were the happiest of the day. Besides, Hiccup always liked running, and finally there was someone that he could run with and he didn't have to worry about someone shouting the name "Coward" after him or yell at him to get back inside during a dragon raid.

Hiccup could already see Toothless, who was gliding around, and even though he couldn't clear the canyon walls, the prosthetic tail fin had opened up enough so he could glide around a little without crashing headfirst to the ground.

Hiccup was quite cautious in going down the stone ledges to the floor of the canyon, and he carefully went under the shield that was still stuck between two of the rocks, before walking over to Toothless, because his feet were rather exhausted and needed a break from running all the way to the cove.

When Toothless had caught sight of Hiccup and the basket he was carrying, the dragon immediately stopped his gliding activity, and rushed over to Hiccup, but was careful not to accidentally crash into him and get him hurt.

"Hey, bud, it's great to see you too. I got here as fast as I could, because I'm sure that you're practically starving, so I made sure to bring your favourite food, but you have to wait just a little longer, because I'd like to see if there's anything new inside that mailbox over there." Hiccup reminded.

Hiccup walked to the the mailbox, while carrying the basket of fish, and carefully set it down before taking a close look at the mailbox, in which the red flag attached to it was standing up, so Hiccup immediately knew that a new letter from Rapunzel was waiting for him.

He opened up the small door, put one of his hands inside to feel just a single sheet of paper, instantly took it out, and closed the small door of the mailbox before reading the letter.

_Dear Hiccup,_

_I'd like to thank you very much for not only telling me about who you are, but also everything that has happened in your life so far before you started writing to me._

_You mentioned at the end of your letter that if I had any questions to ask about any of the things that you wrote down, I should write them in my next letter, and that's why I went through your long letter for a second time to look back on what caught my interest the most._

_1. How many types of dragons are there, and what are their names?_

_2. Who or what is this "Astrid", and do they happen to be a dragon too?_

_3. Do you and your father have a great relationship with each other?_

_4. You didn't mention your mother at least once, so what's she like?_

_5. How did your parents manage to give you the name "Hiccup"?_

_6. Are you the only person in Dragon Training, or are there other people?_

_7. Could you be willing to send me one of your drawings sometime?_

_8. __Is there anything good that you're able to cook or bake at home?_

_9. Can you promise not to tell anyone else in Berk about us writing letters?_

_10. Besides Toothless, do you have any other friends to hang out with?_

_11. __Even though it sounds quite silly to ask at this point, can we be friends?_

_I believe that's all of the questions I could come up with, and believe it or not, I actually would have thought of more to ask you, but I'm sure that it might probably take a lot of your time._

_I would appreciate it very much if you could have an answer for each and every question of mine._

_Sincerely, __Rapunzel_

While only about two questions had caused Hiccup to laugh for just a few short seconds, like the one that asked if Astrid was a dragon, and another asking if he could cook or bake, the rest of the questions left Hiccup with a sad feeling, and he almost felt like he was going to cry, but he knew that it wasn't such a good time.

Hiccup closed the door of the mailbox, lowered the red flag, and put Rapunzel's letter in a pocket of his fur vest before taking it off and laying it on the ground, so that he could put on his riding vest to take few more practice runs to test Toothless' saddle up in the sky.

"Toothless, I'm sorry to keep you waiting again, but you don't have to worry anymore, because starting now, I'll be having my focus on you, and so before we begin on another crash course, I should have you eat your breakfast first..." Hiccup said.

He brought the basket down on the ground, and kicked it over, causing the contents of the basket to spill out, allowing the stench of dead fish to fill the air.

Hiccup quickly covered his nose to avoid the smell, and while Toothless had started on eating the amount of one hundred salmon and Icelandic cod by bringing his head deeper into the basket, Hiccup assembled the last few parts of the saddle to his tail and the prosthetic tailfin.

Basically, a cord would run from the prosthetic tail fin to the left stirrup, and depending on how Hiccup pressed on it with his foot, it would alter the angle of the prosthetic tailfin and then Toothless would be able to fly the way he normally did before Hiccup knocked him out of the sky, and he still had guilty feelings about doing that.

Just as Toothless finished his breakfast of fish, Hiccup hopped onto his back, and attached the metal loops of his leather belt to the metal hooks on Toothless' saddle.

"Alright Toothless! Let's go!" Hiccup shouted, and Toothless threw the basket away with his teeth before he thrust his wings downward and in a matter of only a few seconds, they were off the ground.


	10. The Friendship Begins

**Just before all of you read this chapter, I want you to know that I've added another question to Rapunzel's list, which is #5 and I also moved some of the questions (#6-#11) in a different order in the previous chapter, so that none of you don't get confused while you're reading this one.**

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**_Chapter 10: The Friendship Begins_**

After she had finished doing all of her daily chores, Rapunzel decided to make a change today and skip on her usual hobbies by staying up in her room and read all of the letters that Hiccup sent to her so far, especially the long letter detailing of what happened in his life before he wrote to her.

From reading the letters all over again, Rapunzel could definately tell that Hiccup wasn't some dangerous thug or ruffian that Mother Gothel had frequently warned her about not so long ago, considering the fact that he's a fifteen year old Viking who chose not to kill a dragon when he had the chance.

Of course, that wasn't the only thing which had Rapunzel so astounded, it was also that Hiccup eventually managed to gain the dragon's trust by giving him a fish, eating part of it, and then making drawings of each other in the dirty ground, which she thought was very adorable.

She couldn't wait to find out if Hiccup had given a wonderful answer for all of the ten questions that she sent to him in her letter, and what his answers would be, so Rapunzel didn't see the point of waiting in her room when she could just go outside and enjoy the weather.

Just as Rapunzel came out of the tower from taking the last step of the secret staircase, she saw and heard the magical mailbox make its' usual movement of having the red flag raised up all on its' own, but Rapunzel already knew what that meant, and raced over to the mailbox, opening its' door.

She decided to read Hiccup's letter right now while laying down on the grass on her stomach with her feet up near the mailbox, and that she would show it to Pascal later today.

_Dear Rapunzel,_

_Although it did take a long time to get this letter done, I knew that it was very important to get it to you as soon as possible, so that's why I thought that every answer should be good enough for you to enjoy, so here they are, and I really hope that you're satisfied with them._

_**1.** I'm not exactly sure how many types of dragons there are, and which are still alive to this day, but I do know that there's a lot of them, thanks to reading the Dragon Manual._

_It's a book which is given to the students of Dragon Training in order for them to study up on the dragons they will be facing in their upcoming exams._

___All of the dragons in the manual are spread into 7 classes: Stoker, Boulder, Fear, Sharp, Tidal, Mystery, and Strike._

___Here's an easy and short decription for each of the classes._

___Stoker: These dragons are dangerous fire-breathers._

___Boulder: These dragons are tough, rock-eating dragons._

___Fear: These dragons are sneaky and deadly at the same time._

___Sharp: These dragons possess razor sharp qualities and a generous dose of vanity._

___Tidal: These dragons live underwater, and it's usually where they spend their time._

___Mystery: No one really knows what these dragons can do, since they have very mysterious personalities._

___Strike: These dragons are best known for their pin-point accuracy, lightning speed, vice like jaw strength, and extreme intelligence._

_Each exam takes place in the Kill Ring, which is also a sort of prison for captured dragons, and it's a big, dome like center that's chained off at the top to prevent the dragons from escaping._

_There are only five specific dragons we face in the Kill Ring: the Deadly Nadder, the Gronckle, the Hideous Zippleback, the Terrible Terror, and finally, the Monstrous Nightmare, which is typically the dragon that only one person must kill in a final test in order to become a true Viking._

_I would really like to describe all of those five dragons for you, but I'm sure that it would take up a lot of space on these sheets of paper, and if it went that way, I couldn't be able to give an answer the rest of your questions._

_**2.** Astrid Hofferson isn't a dragon at all, but a teenage Viking girl of the Hairy Hooligans tribe who attends the exams of Dragon Training with me, although I have to admit that I laughed from reading that question._

_I've known Astrid ever since back when we were kids, but the two of us haven't been very close over the years, because she's usually serious and extremely dedicated to becoming a Viking Warrior._

_Astrid's generally not interested in spending time with the other teenagers, including me, preferring to study and train on her own in order to become a better fighter._

_Astrid's had the most success in Dragon Training, and she takes much pride in being the best, so when I suddenly got better than her by using the new skills with the dragons in the exams that I learned from training Toothless, she's become extremely jealous and suspicious of me._

_I've actually had a crush on Astrid for many years, because she's striking, tough, beautiful, but her hard and driven persona makes her quite difficult to be impressed by anyone, especially me, but I've now managed to get her attention, by overtaking her spot as the star student._

_Astrid has took notice of my unexplained absences after the Dragon Training exams, a__lthough no one has really commented on it, _and she's already tried a few times to find out where I've been going to, and what I've been hiding, but luckily, she's failed to discover anything.

_Before I even met Toothless, I've always been dreaming and imagining of Astrid being my girlfriend, but now, I'm not so sure that's going to happen, and I don't really know if that's what I still want, because I think that having Toothless as a best friend is more than enough for me._

**_3. _**_My relationship with my father, Stoick the Vast, hasn't really been so great, because we seem to be complete opposites of each other._

_While my father is large, strong, brawny, and the best dragon fighter in the village, I'm lanky, weak, brainy, and perhaps initially, at least the worst dragon fighter on this island._

_Our relationship's become strained because of these differences, and so before I captured Toothless, I've always wanted to make my father proud by attempting to slay dragons but I just end up making things worse most of the time._

_Whenever the two of us have a conversation, it's typically one-sided with my father doing the talking and me trying to get a word in edgewise._

_Right now, my father's away on an expedition he's leading to search for the Dragon's Nest, which is the home to all of the dragons that come by to terrorize our village._

_I'm sure that when my father gets back, he'll really be surprised to hear how that I've blossomed into the most promising dragon slayer in Dragon Training._

_He'll also want to talk to me, especially to get the details of my success which, unbeknownst to him and everyone else on that expedition, has been from the time he has spent with Toothless._

_Whether or not I win the honor of getting to kill the Monstrous Nightmare, I want to be able to show my father that there's so much more to dragons than what he's known about them, and hopefully, he'll might actually be glad once he finds out._

_**4.** I would like to say that you should be so lucky that you still have your mother in your life, because mine died when I was younger, and I'll get to how she died later on, but I'd want to write about the events which happened before her death came._

_My mother's name is Valhallarama; she was and still is considered a great hero amongst the Hairy Hooligans, but was often away on a lot of raids and quests, leaving my father to raise me on his own._

_I'd always miss her while she was gone, so whenever she was here on Berk, we would do all kinds of fun things together: tickle fights, draw pictures, tell stories, and play tag._

_My mother was very beautiful, and she also had this soft voice that always made me feel warm inside, especially when she sang lullabies to help me fall asleep, feel better, or even just to see me smile and laugh._

_She cared for me, let me do all of the things that I love, and comforted me when I was teased and made fun of by the other kids, but everything changed during a dragon raid on one night._

_A thunder storm was also going on that night, and I had snuck out of the house for some reason I still don't even know, when suddenly, I was almost attacked by a dragon, but luckily my mother showed up to save me, and at the cost of her own life._

_Even though my father had told me plenty of times that it wasn't my fault, and it was only an accident, I refused to believe it, and as the years went by, I started to want to become a real Viking in order to not only impress Astrid, but also make my father proud._

**_5. _**_Although I'm pretty sure that I was at a very young age when I asked my mother this same question, I do think that I can still be able to remember what she told me._

_I was very small and delicate when I was born, no bigger than a loaf of bread, and I could almost fit into one of my father's palms, but that's not really a good thing._

_When a woman is pregnant, it usually takes nine months before she gives birth to the baby, but my mother was about seven months when she had started to go into labour._

_Since I was born earlier than expected and smaller than the usual size of a newborn, I was a premature baby, and the chances of a premature baby surviving are always slim._

_It's a custom tradition that after the parents and the midwife (which is the woman trained to assist women during childbirth) see the baby, the village elder, Gothi, was the first person to see any new addition to the village. _

_After all, it's always been her job to introduce the babies to the gods of the earth and to the population of Berk, and she breathed a sigh of relief, when I started to make the faintest of all noises out of my mouth, which were none other than hiccups._

_I don't really know much about them, expect my mother had told me that they're sounds which you make several times per minute, and it's always been a rare occasion when you get them._

_So, anyway, my parents still hadn't decided on a name for me, but my mother wanted me to have a name that was different, and would help me sound special and stand out from the rest of the kids in the village._

_My mother loved the hiccups that I was making, because she thought that they were the most wonderful sound in the world to her, and also said that it was the sound of my strength, of his will, so before you know it, she and my father had decided to give me the name "Hiccup"._

_**6.** No, I'm not the only teen in Dragon Training, and besides Astrid, who I mentioned is in the classes with me, there's four more teens who attend the classes, and I think that I'll have enough space to shortly describe each of them for you, since I'd already described Astrid._

_Fishlegs Ingerman: He's the tallest and biggest of the Viking teens, normally acts nervous and frightened, always quotes statistics from the Dragon Manual, which he has read seven times, and he usually does this in Dragon Training, where it obviously annoys the rest of us._

_Snotlout Jorgenson: He's egotistical, overconfident, very unintelligent, and since he's the son of my uncle, that makes him my cousin, and just like me, he also has a crush on Astrid, which is why he's tried on several occasions to impress her, even though he's failed every time._

_Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston: They're twins: two babies born from the same woman, (Ruffnut is a girl, while Tuffnut is a boy), who are both hotheaded, wild, and reckless adrenaline junkies, have nasty tempers, share an equal dislike for reading the Dragon Manual._

**_7. _**_Of course, __I will definately send you a drawing of mine, and as I mentioned in a previous letter, I've drawn up many sketches of future inventions to capture dragons, all of which will never be made, and after I'd met Toothless, I've done a lot of sketches with him._

_When I do send a drawing to you, it will be the cove, which is the place where me and Toothless spend time together. __Just so you know in advance, _it won't have any color though, just like all of my sketches, and I'll do my absolute best to make it very beautiful.

_You recently wrote in one of your letters that your favourite hobby is painting, so if you don't mind, it would be nice for me and Toothless to see a self-made painting of you, Pascal, and the tower that you've been living in._

**_8. _**_Neither me or my dad have spent most of our time in the kitchen over the years, because it was usually up to my mother to feed all of us, and luckily for us, she knew how to cook and bake, but she did manage to leave a lot of her recipes in the house before she died._

_How about this, I'll be willing to do my best in making something that's not terrible in how it looks and tastes, and after I send it through the mailbox, you have to do the same thing, and we'll also keep whatever we're cooking/baking a surprise for each other._

**_9. _**_I promise that I won't show or tell anybody about the mailbox, and I'll make sure that it stays that way. Besides, I don't think telling anyone in my village about us writing letters will be such a good thing, especially with Astrid already being so jealous and suspicious._

_Luckily, everyone else in Berk still haven't found it even the slightest bit strange that I always run off after having a victory in Dragon Training, instead of celebrating with them, so I doubt that anyone will be interested in finding the cove and the mailbox any time soon._

**_10. _**_Before I was even placed in Dragon training, I didn't have any friends who wanted to hang out with me, because anyone who was at or around my age usually would rather have fun in teasing, taunting, and bullying me, but all of that changed when I met Toothless._

_Everytime, it makes me feel so good that I can finally be able to talk to someone who's not only interested in what I have to say, but actually listens to me and doesn't want to belittle me because of my long known reptuation as the town screwup and social outcast._

_Ever since I found the mailbox in the cove a few days ago, I was worried at first that I would be making another enemy, but I'm now glad to be making contact with another person who doesn't judge, even though we don't physically see each other at all._

_**11.** Yes, we can be friends, and it wasn't silly of you to ask me this question, because my life isn't so busy at the moment, since there's not much going on besides getting up early for Dragon Training in the morning, so you could say that this is when our friendship officially begins._

_Sincerely, Hiccup_

After she was done reading the letter, Rapunzel excitedly ran back towards the tower, with her feet quickly touching the grass with every step she took, and she didn't stop running until she was back in her bedroom and called out for Pascal to come on her shoulder.

"Pascal, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about this sooner, but I recently got a new letter from Hiccup, and I'm so happy to say that this is offically going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship for me and Hiccup." Rapunzel announced.


	11. The Delicious Gifts

**I would like to give an apology to all of you for the late update with this story. It's just that I've been working on four other multi-chapter stories and a one-shot. Today also happens to be my 20th birthday, so it would be great if I received a few birthday messages from any of you. I'd really appreciate it. :)**

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**_Chapter 11: The Delicious Gifts_**

While he was awake in his bed, Hiccup had been hoping that Rapunzel was very satisfied right now with the answers that he'd given for each of her eleven questions from her last letter, considering that most of the answers he'd written were long and detailed, and now he was thinking of doing something different.

He was delighted to hear from Gobber last night that there wouldn't be any Dragon Training in the morning, because of today being a certain holiday, and Hiccup didn't even bother to remember the name of it, so he decided to use the free time in making something delicious for Rapunzel.

Since Rapunzel obviously didn't sound like the name of another teenage Viking from a faraway island, because Vikings were usually given a scary and hideous name and Hiccup believed that he just couldn't let this girl down, so it needed to be something which was both soft and tasteful.

Hiccup concluded that he should whip up a sweet dessert, even though they were normally made for birthdays and holidays, so he carefully searched the kitchen until he found his late mother's cookbook of recipes, and looked through the section before stopping at a certain delicacy.

Hiccup checked the pantry and cupboards to get all of the ingredients that were required to make the recipe that he'd chose, and set all of them down on the table, but before he got started on doing anything, Hiccup rolled both of his sleeves up and put on an apron his mother had made and used to wear before she passed away.

Hiccup was glad that whether he succeeded or failed in his new baking mission, there wouldn't be any long lecture afterwards from his father about messing things up in the house and not using the kitchen when he's not around, and he would also get to enjoy the silence in the house.

A fresh batch of lemon bars were the savoury sweets that Hiccup was going to be making for Rapunzel and Pascal, at least if her chameleon would be allowed or interested in eating some of them too, and there were two parts for the lemon bars, which was the crust and filling, but they needed to be done separately.

"Here goes nothing," Hiccup said softly, just as he read the very first step of the instructions to the recipe, which was to preheat the oven with wood, and get a fire started, so once that was done, Hiccup began mixing a few of the ingredients together in a bowl with a spatula.

Hiccup blended the butter, flour, and sugar in the bowl until they created a light substance, and then he added the salt into it, going back to mixing until the combination of the ingredients became dough, which he dumped onto a well-floured board and gathered into a ball.

After that, he flattened the dough with his floured hands, pressed it into a nine by thirteen by two-inch baking sheet, building up a half-inch edge on all sides, and while using his late mother's embroidered flower pattern gloves, Hiccup slided the baking sheet onto a shelf in the oven.

He did a quick check at the recipe, which told him that in order for the crust had to be baked, it must stay in the oven for fifteen to twenty minutes before it gets taken out, so Hiccup decided on counting to sixty seconds for about seventeen times as a personal timer for the oven.

Slowly, while using the gloves, when he pulled the baking sheet off the shelf and out of the oven, he was glad to see the crust was lightly brown, and laid the baking sheet down on the table to cool off, but Hiccup wasn't finished yet, because he still had to make the lemon filling too.

Using the spatula again, he whisked together the remaining sugar, flour, and eggs, as well as the grated lemon zest and freshly squeezed lemon juice, before pouring the mixture over the baked crust and putting it back on the shelf in the oven to be baked for half an hour.

Hiccup took out the baking sheet with one of the gloves, placed it down on the table, and he put out the fire in the oven with a few buckets of water, while he let the crust cool down to room temperature, then using a knife to cut into uniform two inch squares, and arrange in a checker board fashion.

Finally, Hiccup dusted all of the square-shaped lemon bars with confectioners' sugar, and was about to take them out of the baking sheet when he started thinking of what he should put them into, so Hiccup searched the house until he found a brown paper bag which was big enough to carry them all.

He first got himself cleaned up, with washing the flour off his hands, taking off his apron and gloves, rolling his sleeves down, and then tidied up the kitchen by putting the rest of the remaining ingredients, as well as the kitchen tools back to their places in the pantry and cupboards.

"Yeah! I did it!" Hiccup cheered, throwing his arms up in the air, feeling so proud of himself that his baking efforts must have worked out, especially since this was the very first time that he's been successful in the kitchen, but he still had to know whether Rapunzel would like them or not.

Hiccup also wanted to do more airborne tests with Toothless, so he put both his riding vest and cheatsheet for the dragon's prosthetic tailfin underneath his shoulder, but not before writing a short note for Rapunzel about the lemon bars, and reminding her to cook or bake something for him, so that they would be even, and going out the back door.

Even though his father was still away to find the Dragon's Nest, and everybody else in Berk would be busy in some other way, Hiccup couldn't bother to face being interrogated by Astrid, who would definately march right up to him, start asking constant questions, and not leave him alone until she got answers.

Luckily for Hiccup, she stopped making visits to his house a long time ago, which meant that she still didn't know about the back door, and he had managed to find the cove without tripping and hurting himself, or dropping any of the stuff that he was carrying on his long path through the forest.

He made sure to be extra careful this time in going down the stone ledges, since he was holding a lot more than he usually did whenever he came to the cove, and as Toothless went over to greet his human friend, the dragon started to sniff his nose toward the brown bag of lemon bars Hiccup was holding.

"I'm sorry, Toothless, but these are for my new friend, Rapunzel, but I'm sure that when she's done eating them, she'll get ready to making a batch of tasty treats for us to eat, so I'm just going to put these in the mailbox first, and then, we're going to keep ourselves busy with a few more flying tests." Hiccup informed.

Toothless agreed in making a soft purring sound, and he watched as Hiccup walked over to the mailbox, opened up the door, put the brown bag inside, with the note on top of it, closed the door, and raised up the red flag, but not before dropping his riding vest and flying cheatsheet on the ground so that he could use both of his arms.

Hiccup took off his fur vest, only to drop it on the grass, and then he picked up his riding vest to put it on, as well as the cheatsheat, holding it in one of his hands, before going over to Toothless, hopping onto his back, and attaching both himself and the cheatsheat to the saddle before taking off into the sky.

* * *

". . .and that's how he got the name "Hiccup". Now wasn't that such a great answer to my question, Pascal?" Rapunzel asked, and the chameleon agreed by squeaking, for which Pascal was so glad and grateful that Rapunzel didn't name him from the squeaks that he made when they first met.

Rapunzel had been reading Hiccup's most recent letter to Pascal, while she lay down on the grass on her stomach with her feet up, just like she was yesterday, and she was about to continue on reading the answer Hiccup gave for her sixth question, when she heard the mailbox and looked up to see the red flag stand up.

"Hiccup's sent a new letter for us! I wonder what it's gonna be about this time!" Rapunzel said, as she quickly got herself up from the ground, and wiped off anything that she got on her dress, but not before laying out the palm of her right hand for Pascal to stand on and she raised her palm up to her left shoulder, where he moved himself to.

When Rapunzel opened up the door of the mailbox, she was surprised to see that there wasn't any letter made up of one or more sheets of paper, but a brown paper bag, which she carefully pulled out with both of her hands, but as she did that, a small note fell onto the grass, and Rapunzel bent down to pick it up and read it.

_Dear Rapunzel,_

_I remember that I told you in one of my answers for your questions in my most recent letter that I was willing to make something for you in the kitchen of my house, and that's what exactly I did this morning, and even though it took a while, I managed to bake a batch of lemon bars for you._

_Now then, I don't mean to be rude or anything, but it wouldn't really be fair for you to just eat them, and not make something for me in return, because it took a lot of time and effort earlier today to bake those lemon bars, so I'd appreciate it very much if you sent something of your own to me._

_There's about twenty square-shaped lemon bars inside the brown paper bag, and I'm not sure if Pascal is able to have some of them too, but I'm glad if he can, so I hope you and Pascal will enjoy them, and I'd appreciate it if you could please tell me in a note what you thought of them after you're finished._

___Sincerely, Hiccup_

"Look, Pascal! Our new friend has sent us more than just a letter, but also a fresh batch of lemon bars for us to have, so would you like to try one?" Rapunzel asked.

Just as she opened up the bag, the chameleon could quickly smell the lemon bars with his nose, which caused him to almost happily faint.

"Wow, I've never actually seen that reaction from you before, but I'm guessing that's a yes, so let's go inside the tower first before we have ourselves eating any of them, and I'm sure that you can wait at least a few more quick seconds, right?" Rapunzel added, and Pascal happily squeaked, while nodding his head.

Once again, the chameleon held on tightly to his friend's shoulder as she ran towards the tower, up the secret staircase to get inside it, and another staircase going up to her room, but not before closing the door of the mailbox, and lowering the red flag down, so that Hiccup would know she received his lemon bars.

After all of that running she just did, Rapunzel carefully sat down in front of her vanity before reaching in the brown bag with one of her hands and pulling out at least four lemon bars, with two of them for her, and the other two for Pascal, who went off her shoulder and down her arm to stand on top of the vanity.

"Alright, Pascal, now that we're inside the tower, let's have a taste of these lemon bars," Rapunzel said, just before she and Pascal took a bite out of the lemon bar they were holding in one of their hands, and they soon groaned in delight from the taste of it, being a mix of tart and tangy, as well as sweet and sour too.

"Oh my goodness, this is absolutely delicious!" Rapunzel said, as she made a little jump of excitement, as the taste of the delectable dessert ran down her mouth and into her stomach. "I don't know why Hiccup was even worried about making these for us, because they're truly so incredible!" Rapunzel added.

Once both her and Pascal had finished eating their second lemon bar, Rapunzel looked down to see that Pascal was trying to open up the brown bag so that he could crawl in and get a few more for himself, but Rapunzel stopped her friend by grabbing his tail and holding him up to give a serious look.

"Sorry, Pascal, but it's going to be just two for today, so we're going to save the rest of the lemon bars for another time, or instead, we could each have two for every day until they're all gone. How does that sound to you?" Rapunzel suggested, and Pascal stood up to think about it before squeaking and nodding his head.

"Now that we've decided on a easy solution for this simple situation, it's time for me to go down to the kitchen, because I need to get working on a batch of our own tasty treats to make for Hiccup and Toothless, but of course, I'll need your help, so please come onto my shoulder." Rapunzel instructed, lending out her hand.

Pascal immediately crawled across the palm of her hand, then her clothed arm, and finally onto her left shoulder, but not before licking off any crumbs that Rapunzel must have still left on her hand, which caused her to let out a few giggles, since Rapunzel felt like she was being given a personal tickling by the chameleon.

Rapunzel thought it was best to hide the lemon bars in a secret spot somewhere in her room, just in case Mother Gothel would want to come in and check on her, so Rapunzel put the brown bag in one of the drawers, before going downstairs to the kitchen, and looking around for Gothel's cookbook of famous recipes.

Rapunzel flipped through the pages of the cookbook until she found the dessert section, and looked around carefully before pointing her finger at one of the recipes, which happened to be one on how to make chocolate chip cookies, which she believed were something that Hiccup and Toothless would love to try out.

"Hey, Pascal, how about we give thanks to our new friend by baking him and his dragon a batch of chocolate chip cookies of our own and sending them safely through the mailbox in a brown bag for them to eat? Do you think that twenty will be enough for them?" Rapunzel asked, to which Pascal gave a nod with his head.

"Alright, now let's get started!" Rapunzel announced, and searched through the pantry andcupboards for all of the ingredients required to make the cookies, but not before putting on her mother's apron, and checking the recipe to know exactly which ingredients first, and she laid all of them down on the kitchen table.

It didn't really take such a long time for Rapunzel to bake the cookies, and it wasn't even so difficult, considering the fact that she's done the recipe about a hundred times before, or probably a lot more times than that amount, and she carried what was left of the ingredients back to their spots in the pantry and cupboards.

After that was done, Rapunzel absolutely made sure to look for any messes that she might have caused while she was doing her baking session, but to her luck, Rapunzel didn't find at least one, and even if there was a mess, it was much too small for anyone to find with their own eyes, and Pascal didn't even bother on looking for a mess.

Rapunzel did a complete search around the whole tower for a brown bag, just like the one Hiccup used to put his lemon bars in, but she couldn't find one, so she thought for a while of putting the cookies in that same bag, but quickly decided that she should have them in something that looks a lot more neat and different.

She easily found a basket which was small enough to fit inside the mailbox and so she put the cookies into four rows of five in the basket before covering them with a napkin, so that way, all of the cookies could be able to stay warm and fresh for Hiccup even after he takes them out of the mailbox to taste them out.

"Wait a minute, when Hiccup sent the lemon bars through the mailbox, there was also a small note on top of the brown bag, then I should probably do the same thing by sending him a note, which would say thanks for the lemon bars, and talk about the next activity for us." Rapunzel said to herself in her head.

Once again, Pascal held on tightly to her friend's shoulder, as she went up the stairs to her bedroom, and searched around the room until she found a white sheet of paper, as well as a fountain pen, and took a seat at the vanity, and began writing on the white sheet, which only lasted less than a minute.

When Rapunzel was finished with the note, she ran out of her room, and down the stairs to the kitchen, while carrying the note in one of her hands, and placed the note on top of the napkin-covered basket of her homemade cookies, before picking up the basket from the table, and going down the secret staircase.

Rapunzel was careful with not tripping on any step of the staircase, or even her hair, as she went a lot more slow this time, considering that Rapunzel wasn't carrying just another letter for Hiccup and she went back to running again right when her feet touched the grass, and reached the mailbox in a few quick seconds.

She opened up the mailbox with one hand, and while using the other, and being extra careful, Rapunzel fit the basket inside the mailbox, closed the opening for it, raised the red flag up, and after she did all of those things, Rapunzel took a few deep breaths to calm herself down, especially from doing all of that running.

As soon as Rapunzel had managed to get herself all relaxed, a smile had begun to appear on her face when she started to think of what Hiccup would be thinking about the cookies after he tasted them, but her thoughts were unexpectedly interrupted when Rapunzel heard a squeaking sound next to her left ear.

"I'm sorry, Pascal, but could you please tell me what you said, because I was thinking about Hiccup while you were talking," Rapunzel said, and her friend instantly raised an eyebrow from hearing what the girl just said, and Rapunzel widened her eyes when she realized what Pascal must have been thinking about.

"What I meant to say was that I had been thinking about what Hiccup will think about our cookies when he gets the chance to eat him, and maybe Toothless will like them too, at least, if a dragon's even allowed to have chocolate every once in a while, and I'm hoping that he'll absolutely love my idea for our next activity." Rapunzel explained.

Rapunzel raised up her right hand to her left shoulder for Pascal to stand on it, and he quickly let out a few more squeaks, as he wanted to know exactly what was going to the next activity his friend had mentioned, and Rapunzel knew that it would be better to just tell Pascal instead of keep it a secret from him.

"Relax, Pascal, I'll tell you, and so the next activity that me and Hiccup are going to do is drawing." Rapunzel announced, before walking to get back inside the tower.


	12. The Beautiful Drawing

**I would like to apologize to all of you for the late update with this story. I appreciate that you've been following it or had the story as a favorite or both, so thank you very much. It would also mean a lot if you could please give a review, so I'll know that people still love this story and want it to be continued.**

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**_Chapter 12: The Beautiful Drawing_**

When Hiccup and Toothless flew back to the cove on that very same day, the two of them landed on a wide space which was not so far away from the mailbox.

Hiccup looked closely at it and smiled to see that the red flag was standing up, and he quickly unhooked himself from Toothless' saddle and got off the dragon to walk over to it.

He opened the door to find a big basket inside, and so when Hiccup carefully pulled it out of the mailbox, he instantly became interested with whatever was underneath the basket.

Hiccup also saw a folded note on top of the basket, and at the same time, he could smell the mysterious gift that Rapunzel sent him, but he thought that it was best to read the note first.

_Dear Hiccup,_

_Me and Pascal tried some of your lemon bars just earlier today, and they were absolutely delicious, but we're not going to eat them all, so that's why we're going to save the rest of them for another time._

_I read the note you sent about me having to make something for you so that we would be even, and that's why me and Pascal got busy in the kitchen to bake a batch of chocolate chip cookies for you._

_I'm don't know if Toothless will be able to have some, but I'm sure that he'll enjoy the taste of them if he can, so anyway, I made a total of about twenty cookies, giving you and Toothless to each have about ten._

_I went through your last long letter again, and it's got me thinking for a while of what could be the next activity for us, and I've decided that it should be drawing._

_I'd really like to see what the cove looks like, and from the way that you talked about it, I can only imagine that it's truly a beautiful place for you and Toothless to spend time together._

_How about this, after you send me a self made drawing of you and Toothless in the cove, then I'll send you a painting of the tower where me and Pascal live in._

_Just like with the baked treats, you can go first with a drawing of your own, and once I've received it, I'll get started on my painting, but please send me a note to remind me, otherwise I might probably forget._

_Thank you so much for the lemon bars, Hiccup, and when you write back, make sure to include of what you and Toothless thought of our cookies, and that would be great!_

_Sincerely, Rapunzel_

Once he was done with reading the note, Hiccup closed the mailbox, and lowered the red flag down before walking back to Toothless while carrying the note in one hand and the basket with the other one.

Toothless was soon rushing over to his friend when he could easily smell the cookies from under the basket, and Hiccup knew right away that his dragon loved the smell from the way his tongue was hanging out.

"Easy there, bud! If you must know, Rapunzel and her friend liked my lemon bars so much that they wanted to give us their own tasty treats, so first, let's take a look, shall we?" Hiccup asked, while giving a grin.

The Night Fury quickly nodded his head, and he tried his best to keep himself perfectly still as he watched his best friend pull the napkin off from the basket, which finally revealed the warm and fresh cookies.

As hard as he tried, Toothless couldn't have any more patience and just when he was about to run toward Hiccup and take the basket from his grip, he was stopped when Hiccup put up his palm in front of his sight.

"Don't you worry, bud." Hiccup said, as he brought his palm back down. "You're gonna get some, but it would be a good idea to save the rest of them, just like Rapunzel is doing with my lemon bars now." He added.

Hiccup thought for a moment before reaching down into the basket and picking up about two cookies, and brought them up to his nose for a better smell of them first.

"Alright, bud, now listen very closely," Hiccup said, as he brought the cookies down from his face. "We're each going to have just one cookie, or maybe even two, but only if the cookies are that good, understand?" He questioned.

Toothless did another nod of his head, and watched as Hiccup threw one of the cookies up in the air, also being in the dragon's direction, and the dragon kept his eyes on the cookie before finally catching it with his mouth.

Once he saw that Toothless had easily caught his cookie, Hiccup took a bite out of the one he was holding in one of his hands, and he literally almost dropped the basket he held in the other right when the tastebuds kicked in.

"Oh my gods, that is so good!" Hiccup exclaimed, as he just couldn't believe that Rapunzel could be able to bake such delicious-tasting cookies, but baking must have been one of the things she learned to do over the years.

Toothless was beginning to think that Hiccup wasn't looking, as his eyes were constantly opening and closing, he crouched down on the grass and started to crawl towards the basket of cookies by taking very small steps.

Just when the dragon had managed to touch the basket with one of his claws, he turned his head to see Hiccup giving him a hard and serious look, while still eating his cookie, before moving the basket out of Toothless' reach.

"Sorry, bud, but you're not going to have any more of these, at least, if you keep it up with being so impatient and sneaky like that, so please wait until I'm done with my cookie so that we can have another one at the same time, okay?" Hiccup asked.

Toothless let out some kind of a whiny sound, which was like as if it was coming from a dog who was awfully wounded, or just didn't want his friend to leave him all alone.

"Don't worry, bud, I'm not going to take any longer," Hiccup said, as he put the cookie up to his mouth once again. "It will just be one more minute, I promise." He added.

With that said, Hiccup put the rest of the cookie in his mouth, and to the dragon's displeasure, he took a while to enjoy the flavour of dough and chocolate before swallowing.

"Alright, bud, now that I'm done with the first cookie, each of us can have a second," Hiccup announced, as his hand went in the basket to grab two more cookies for them.

Just like he did earlier, Hiccup threw one of the cookies in the air and in Toothless' direction, to which he caught easily, while Hiccup took a bite of the cookie he had in his hand.

While the smell of the cookie alone made Toothless feel like he was about to faint, the taste of it had caused him to imagine as if he was already up in the beautiful skies of Heaven.

Hiccup couldn't help but laugh for a little bit when he saw his best friend's state of happiness, especially with the way that Toothless was rolling around in the grass on his back.

Hiccup assumed that the dragon was possibly dreaming the cove, or even the clouds high above both of them, were filled with lots of chocolate chip cookies just for him to eat.

As much as he wanted to approach Toothless, and tell him that he would see him later, Hiccup thought it was better to quietly leave, so he could put the rest of the cookies in his house.

After he was finished with eating his second cookie, Hiccup carefully took small steps backward, so that he could keep his eyes on Toothless, and make his way out of the cove at the same time.

Once he got himself at a very far distance away from the Night Fury, Hiccup changed his movement from slow walking to fast running for the entrance to the quiet clearing.

Hiccup decided to carry the basket of cookies over his left shoulder as he climbed the stone ledges back up to the forest, and he turned to have one last look at Toothless before going any further.

He eventually burst into laughter for quite a while, and Hiccup was careful not to drop the basket by accident, since he didn't want Rapunzel to be making another batch of cookies, if the ones he had with him were on the ground.

When Hiccup was done laughing, his mind went to the basket, and he began to think of an explanation for anyone who saw him as soon as he came back to Berk, and unfortunately, he came to the conclusion that there wasn't a good one.

Once again, he would have to be very careful and sneak through the village until he arrived at his house, and do the same when leaving to meet up wit Toothless at the cove.

Most certainly, Hiccup didn't want to be confronted by Astrid, and deal with another interrogation of being asked where he's been and what he's been doing with all of his time.

Just as Hiccup reached Berk, there didn't seem to be anyone in sight, but he still remained cautious though, doing a routine of taking a few steps and stopping to look around.

To his luck and relief, he managed to avoid being caught by any of the villagers, and he quickly went up to his room, and started to search for a safe spot to leave the basket.

It didn't take long for Hiccup to find a good place for it, and so he crouched down on his knees to the wooden floor and moved the basket until it was under the center of his bed.

After that was finally dealt with, Hiccup found a charcoal pen and a sheet of paper which was large enough for him to make a drawing of the secluded and beautiful clearing, as well as another sheet to make a note for Rapunzel.

With the pen, and two sheets of paper in his hands, Hiccup began to go down the stairs when he thought that he heard a knock be made on the other side of the front door.

He put all of the things that he was carrying on the dinner table before walking over to open the door, and he was quite surprised to see that it wasn't Astrid who was there.

"Oh, Hiccup, I was actually worried for a moment that you wouldn't be here," Fishlegs said. "I was hoping if you'd like to hang out with me, Snotlout, and the twins." He requested.

"I would love to, Fishlegs, but I really wanted to go out into the forest and do some drawings of nature itself, you know, like the trees and all of their leaves." Hiccup replied.

"That's okay, maybe the four of us could come along and help you out, with making sure you don't trip and fall, and giving you a boost to get up in trees." Fishlegs suggested.

"It's nice of you to offer that, but I can't imagine either the twins or Snotlout would ever enjoy doing things for me while being in the middle of the forest." Hiccup responded.

"Alright, Hiccup, we'd love to see what you've drawn when you get back, but if you ever change your mind, just make sure to find any one of us and let us know." Fishlegs said.

"Don't worry, I'll keep that in mind." Hiccup replied, and just when he was about to turn around and go back in his house, he stopped as a thought quickly came in his head.

"Hold on, Fishlegs, before you go, could you please tell me if you've seen Astrid lately, because I haven't seen her anywhere in the village last time I checked." Hiccup mentioned.

"I think that she's either still training with her axe in the kill ring, or she's probably doing that while being out in the woods, which I believe is actually a much better area. Why, were you planning to look for her?" Fishlegs asked.

"Oh no, I wasn't, and because I know that Astrid hasn't exactly been in a great mood ever since I've begun beating her in dragon training more often, she's become the last person that I want to see from now on." Hiccup explained.

"Honestly, I don't blame you, and even though I can understand Astrid being upset, considering that she used to be at the top of the class before, I just don't get why she can't ever be the slightest bit happy that you're doing better?" Fishlegs said.

"Me neither, and I have to say that I'm not interested with finding out anytime soon, but anyway, it was nice talking to you, Fishlegs. I guess that I'll see you later?" Hiccup replied.

"Yes, so if you're still in the woods when it gets dark, then me and the others will just meet up with you for dinner at the Great Hall, and maybe you could tell us of how you've improved in Dragon Training?" Fishlegs suggested.

"You never know," Hiccup responded. "Maybe I will, maybe I won't, and that's all I'll say for now." He added, while trying the best he could to play coy about the subject.

"Okay then, so it seems like we'll just have to wait until tonight to find out for sure. Anyway, I hope that you have a lot of fun doing art in the woods." Fishlegs said, before leaving.

"Whew, it's a good thing that it wasn't Astrid at the door, or else, I would've been. . .on second thought, it's better to just stop thinking about that." Hiccup thought to himself.

After he closed the front door, Hiccup walked over to the dinner table, picked up his pen and sheets of paper before heading out the back door of his house with both of his things.

If Astrid actually was somewhere in the woods training super hard with her axe, then Hiccup would have to be extra careful so that he wouldn't manage to get spotted by her.

However, she would've caught sight of the big basket he was carrying earlier, or even heard the laughing he made, so he seemed sure that Astrid was either in the ring or at her house.

Since Hiccup didn't believe that there was any reason for him to be worried anymore, he was able to enjoy the walk all the way back to the quiet and peaceful clearing.

When he finally reached the entrance and passed through it, Hiccup could be able to see that Toothless wasn't sprawled out on the grass, as he was now taking a nap.

After Hiccup carefully went down the stone ledges, he started thinking for a moment about going over to the dragon and waking him up, but quickly decided that Toothless would need the rest if they were going to do another flight.

Hiccup figured that the plan right now would be for him to make the drawing and send it to Rapunzel first, then lay against Toothless and take a nap of his own, so he could pass the time in waiting for Rapunzel to send her painting to him.

Now, Hiccup was thinking that in order to include the lake in the drawing, he would either have to stand on a very tall rock or go back out through the entrance and find a spot where he could manage to see the clearing from above.

He decided to choose the latter, even though that meant he had to get back out of the cove, and so while still carrying his things, Hiccup climbed up to the entrance, and after doing that, he went around to look for a good view of the clearing.

Luckily for the teenager, it didn't take so long for him to find one, and he immediately went to work on the drawing, taking his time with it, while occasionally looking up at the cove so that he wouldn't mess up on any part of the drawing.

Once Hiccup was finally finished, he made his way back down to the grassy floor of the clearing and walked over to the mailbox, but before he put the drawing inside, Hiccup wrote a note for Rapunzel with the other sheet of paper first.

Hiccup was positive that Rapunzel would absolutely love his drawing, considering that he spent somewhere between half an hour and an entire hour working on it.

After he put the drawing into the mailbox, with also the note being on top of it, Hiccup raised the red flag before he walked over to the spot where Toothless was sleeping, laid down next to the dragon's chest, and closed his eyes, eventually falling asleep.


End file.
